Australian Bathymetry and Topography Depth Contours from 2009

Geoscience Australia generated depth contours for -20m, -40m, -100m, -200m, and -400m from a 2009 bathymetric grid. The underlying grid combines high-resolution 0.0025-degree data from swath bathymetry and digitized charts with lower-resolution satellite-derived bathymetry for deeper waters. This dataset covers Australian waters and territories between 92°E and 172°E, and 8°S and 60°S.

Use Cases

• Map seafloor depth gradients based on the specified -20m to -400m contours.
• Analyze coastal shelf morphology based on the 0.0025-degree resolution grid data.
• Integrate bathymetric data with other marine datasets for the Australian jurisdiction area described.
• Visualize simplified depth contours created with a 300m smoothing tolerance.

Strengths

• Provides specific depth contours for five levels (-20m, -40m, -100m, -200m, -400m).
• Based on a 2009 updated grid incorporating new datasets to address prior issues.
• Covers a defined geographic extent including Australian territories like Norfolk Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The 0.0025-degree resolution is only supported where direct bathymetric observations are sufficiently dense.
• Last updated 2026-07-10 13:01:09.668731; freshness should be verified.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia, provided via the Australian Ocean Data Network and eAtlas.

Collection Method

Contours were generated in ArcMap using the Contour List tool and simplified with a 300m tolerance Smooth Line tool.

Time Range

Grid version is from June 2009, incorporating data up to that point.

Freshness

Dataset version is from June 2009; metadata was last updated in 2026.

Geography

Australian waters and territories between 92°E and 172°E, and 8°S and 60°S, excluding Heard and McDonald Islands and the Australian Antarctic Territory.